Cheese Wheels Inspired Pasta
You know those fancy New York and Italian restaurants that are serving pasta in a parmesan cheese wheel?
We’re talking about putting perfectly al dente pasta in a large, hollowed out block of parmesan, stirring it around until the cheese is all melty, placing it in a dish, and serving it with freshly cracked black pepper.
Can you think of anything more delicious than that? Well, whether you’ve heard of it or not, get ready for a dish straight from heaven – minus the 100 pound cheese wheel.
I really wanted to create this dish at home, but after doing some research, I realized that parmesan wheels of cheese are not only insanely expensive, but also really hard to find as well.
So I created a recipe that still packs all the cheesy goodness that Italy has to offer, it just involves a much smaller block of cheese. This recipe would be perfect for a dinner party, complete with crusty bread and a bottle of red.
Choosing The Pasta
Pappardelle egg noodles are as Italian as it gets. They are the perfect texture, have a gorgeous golden color, and are the closest tasting to made-from-scratch noodles.
I used to think that adding egg yolks to pasta would be pretty gross, but it’s really just a way for the flour to become noodles, versus just adding water. They don’t taste egg-y, I promise you.
Salt your pasta water! This is one of the most crucial steps, it really ensures that your pasta will have great flavor.
Save your pasta water! Did you know that the leftover starchy, salty pasta water is the perfect combining agent to any pasta sauce? This is a trick I learned from the greats!
Do I Have To Use Egg Noodles?
Traditional Italian pasta is simply made with semolina flour and egg yolks, but any regular pasta, even ones without egg, would work with this recipe.
My second choice would be linguine or penne pasta. Any shape or kind of pasta tastes amazing with loads of cheese, right?
Choosing The Cheese
In this recipe, we are going with Parmigiano Reggiano. It is an Italian hard, granular cheese that comes from cow’s milk and has been aged for at least 12 months.
It comes from regions like Parma, Reggio, and Modena, hence the name. Parmigiano Reggiano is a slightly different cheese than regular parmesan, and it has a sharp and nutty flavor to it.
When grating the cheese, I recommend coarsely chopping half of the wedge with a fork (see photos for reference) or food processor, and the second half finely shaving it with a microplane.
These two methods really give the pasta the perfect balance of melty cheese with a bit of texture to it.
Would Any Other Cheese Work For This Recipe?
If you don’t have Parmigiano Reggiano cheese in your fridge, Pecorino Romano or regular parmesan would be a good substitute. I would recommend using an aged cheese at the very least, it will give it the most flavor.
Choosing The Toppings
In this recipe we are simply using black pepper with the cheese, but garlic bread crumbs, lemon zest or truffle salt could definitely take this up a notch if you’re feeling extra fancy.
Cheese Wheel Inspired Pasta
Yield: 2-4 servings
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Ingredients
- 1 package of Pappardelle pasta
- 1 8oz wedge of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
- ½ tbsp butter
- 1 pinch of black pepper
Instructions
1. Cook the pappardelle pasta according to package instructions.
2. Prepare the cheese by roughly grating half of the cheese with a fork (see photos for guidance) and finely grate the other half. Set the cheese aside.
3. Once the pasta is done boiling, save a quarter cup of pasta water, and drain the pasta.
4. In a large bowl, combine the pasta, butter, the coarse half of the cheese, and half of the fine shredded cheese. Slowly add the pasta water bit by bit (you may not need all of it), until combined. If the pasta still seems a little dry, you can add a bit of olive oil too.
5. Put the pasta into a serving dish and garnish with the rest of the fine cheese and black pepper. Mangia!
Cheese Wheels Inspired Pasta
This pasta is so easy to make but so cheesy and delicious you won't even crave the real thing!
Ingredients
- 1 package of Pappardelle pasta
- 1 8oz wedge of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
- ½ tbsp butter
- 1 pinch of black pepper
Instructions
1. Cook the pappardelle pasta according to package instructions.
2. Prepare the cheese by roughly grating half of the cheese with a fork (see photos for guidance) and finely grate the other half. Set the cheese aside.
3. Once the pasta is done boiling, save a quarter cup of pasta water, and drain the pasta.
4. In a large bowl, combine the pasta, butter, the coarse half of the cheese, and half of the fine shredded cheese. Slowly add the pasta water bit by bit (you may not need all of it), until combined. If the pasta still seems a little dry, you can add a bit of olive oil too.
5. Put the pasta into a serving dish and garnish with the rest of the fine cheese and black pepper. Mangia!
